Greetings loyal airmen, on this rare 29th of February in a Leap Year.  All of you airmen celebrating a birthday today, many happy returns.  Always was a source of humor when we were kids to think of someone only having a birthday every four years.  Anyway, if you are one of those exceptional souls, a sincere wish for a truly fun filled day.  Me, I'm dealing with lots of things this morning, some good, others not so good.  The latter case being the year 1873 and its significance to us today in New Hampshire.   You see, back in 1873, the weather bureau recorded an all time snowfall of 122 inches.  I bring that up because sometime tonight, after midnight, in the  middle of yet another snow storm, we are going to break that record.  Joy, oh joy!!!  Not.  If you are having trouble wrapping your head around that number and what it means over a period of several months, let's put up some visuals here to help you better comprehend what we are dealing with.  The picture below was taken in January of this year, after we had experienced one of the snowiest Decembers ever!

This photo was taken from the dining room window facing down the driveway to Buffumsville Road, where we live.  That's ye old Air Chief with his trusty Ariens Snow-blower attacking the white stuff.  I'd like you to take note of two things in this picture.  The first is the lampost in our yard.  It stands five feet high.  As you can see the snow level is nowhere near the top of the pole.  Also looking right over you'll note I'm blowing the snow up over the hill mound, which is maybe four feet high back there.  At that level we could go down the drive, stop and just barely see if anything was coming up from the right.  Now take a gander at the pix Valerie shot yesterday as I was preparing to go out and snow-blow again.  I think for the 30th time this season!

The snowbank at the bottom of the hill is now approximately NINE FEET HIGH!!   It is impossible to see anything over it.  Pulling out into that main road is a real danger every time we do it.  And the lamp post, well that pretty much speaks for itself, doesn't it?   And this all within one short month.  Oh, and did I mention the weather men (those sadist in three piece suits) are saying we've another storm coming in tonight!!  Quite honestly, the snow is now a real threat as all our roadways are shrinking into smaller lanes because the city plows simply cannot push it back off those paths any further.  I'm kidding my neighbors that soon all our roads will be one lane, but in all seriousness, that's not a joke.  There simply is no place else to put the damn stuff.  For the longest time Valerie and I dreamed of some day visiting Alaska.  After this winter, I think I'll pass.  Ha.

Next week, Wed. 5th of March, we're escaping and flying down to sunny Florida for an entire week.  Yahooo.  Warmth, sunshine and beaches for seven whole days.  Both of us are so looking forward to this getaway trip.  Stop by next Wed, I'll most likely post a final log entry before we leave.  Speaking of Florida and sunshine, most of you know Major League Baseball's Spring Training camps have opened and our Red Sox have started playing once again.

The best pitcher in baseball last year, Josh Beckett, our ace, pitched off the mound for the first time yesterday and reports are that he has lost absolutely nothing of his control and firepower.  Oh yeah, look out American League hitters, Beckett is back!! Speaking of the 2007 World Series Champions, we finally picked up the 2 hour MLB DVD documentary covering the play off season, highlighting the Sox's victories through to their winning the series in Denver with their sweep of the Colorado Rockies, a really remarkable team in their own right.  Was fun watching this excellent movie and really got us into the mood for baseball.

                              
Another bright spot in our wintery world has been the end of the writer's strike in Hollywood and the return of our favorite TV shows.  Topping that list for me, LOST.   This year, although it will be appreviated, has been the best ever with the stories finally beginning to open up the secrets of that mysterious island.  The writers of this show are so talented as was evidenced by last night's amazing, heart wrenching episode.  Desmond, as seen above, was somehow caught in a bizarre time loop which kept sending his consciousness from the present to the past, 1997 to be specific.  So violent were these back and forth flashes, it soon became evident that unless he could calm his mind with something stable, it would simply rupture and kill him.  And the thing that saved his life, the single constant that was forever in his thoughts and heart throughout all the intervening years?  It was his love for Penelope.  And true enough, he manages to contact her and the second he hears her voice on the phone, his time-jumping mind stops it erratic behavior and he is saved….by the power of love.  What more can I say.  This show is simply awesome.

Finally I want to end this week's entry by recommending to all of you a new pulp adventure novel, TO BATTLE BEYOND written by my good buddy, C.J.Henderson.   For most of his career, C.J. has written horror and private eye thrillers.  A few years ago I introduced him to pulp fiction and he took to it like a duck to water.  After writing a short Black Bat story for an anthology I was planning at the time, he then got really ambitious and decided to write a full length novel that would team up several classic pulp heroes to include, Black Bat, Domino Lady and Ravenwood, Stepson of Mystery, all battling an alien entity intent upon dominating the world of mankind.  When it was finished, the smart folks at Marietta Pub. in Georgia picked it up immediately and even invited me to write an introduction, which I was only too happy to provide.  I love the cover they've slapped on it too.  Anyway, loyal pulp-loving airmen, the book is out and available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other fine book sellers.  Pick up a copy, it's a terrific action packed adventure. 

And speaking of pulp thrillers, I want to thank all of you who have clicked on to our dirigible icon here and visited our new on-line store.  Many of you have written saying how you like the layout and even more of you have been ordering our books.  I am so grateful for all your continued support.  I have the best fans in the world.  That's it for this week, airmen.  I hope wherever you hang your caps, the weather is decent and all of you are bearing up well.  Spring is REALLY just around the corner.

Ron – Over & Out.